Macaron Day

Bless this day, it’s the best day of the year, one it’s spring, two you get free macarons. This day is even better than Christmas. This year there were a total of 28 participants. The event runs from 10am — 5pm, some have already been sold out around noon. I was lucky to try macarons from Woops, Payard, Mille-​feuille, Bisous Ciao, Éclair Bakery, Mad Mac, Sugar & Plumm, Bouchon and Epicurie Boulud.
Here is a break down of each macaron I had.
Woops: My least favorite of the bunch, the vanilla macaron was fragile and crumbles apart on the first bite.
Francois Payard — Another favorite of mine, their Chocolate mint was definitely on point, loved the filling in the middle!
Mille-​feuille: Loved their salted caramel, the filling was pretty creamy.
Spot: Another one that I wasn’t a fan of, the thai tea failed in execution. There was barely any thai tea flavor and the texture was pretty bad it was more like a cookie.
Macaron Parlour: The Honey & Cognac was really unique, the flavor was good but I found it to be very dense. It wasn’t too sweet either.
Bisous Ciao: It was super cute how they had the Yuzu macaron printed with emojis on it, but I wasn’t a fan of the milky cream in it it, it was almost like a marshmallow texture.
Éclair Bakery: The Cinnamon White Chocolate was great, very cinnanomy but in a good way, the chocolate wasn’t too overwhelming.
Mad Mac: The chocolate macaron was on point, not overly sweet.
Sugar & Plumm: This was by far my favorite out of the bunch. I had their Salted Caramel and passion fruit macaron, it was so light and airy the moment it hit my lips. It broke down slowly as I chewed and the sugar level was just right. I would definitely come back and purchase a box myself!
Bouchon: I was shocked at how big their macarons were! I’ve never seen a macaron this huge before. The pistachio flavor wasn’t that strong, I didn’t really taste it but I liked the texture.
Epicurie Boulud: The vanilla macaron was pretty standard, texture was okay.
All in all, this was a great way for macaron noobs and lovers alike to try macarons in NYC for free and to find out what their favorite flavors could be or favorite shops could be. Fantastic way to discover new places or revisit old ones. I will definitely go to Sugar & Plumm, Francois Payard, Mille-​feuille, and Éclair Bakery in the future for my macaron fix. Glad I found some new shops besides my usual laduree (which is getting overrated by the way).

Maracon Day 2015 and Rita’s First Day of Spring Italian Ice was a blast. Although it snowed that day but it was a lot of fun maracon hopping from one shop to the next. I am not a huge macaron fanatic like my friend but I do love a good cause and since proceeds from the sells of macarons goes to help City Harvest and every participating shop was giving out one free macaron I thought it was worth tracking out in the snow.
We went and visited 9 macaron bakeries throughout the city. I also purchased Ten macarons. A luxe box of 7 from FP Patisserie, 2 from Macaron café and 1 from Macaron parlour.
By far, hands down the best macaron is from Laduree. But they did not participate in this event. So what is the second and third best then? Who won my favorite vote for free macarons? And what flavor was my favorite? Well, here comes my review
There were 15 Bakeries participating for this year’s event. Although, I would say there is actually 14 participating bakeries because Todd English was not really a participating sponsor, they didn’t have any macarons to give for free nor did they have any to sell. So I am not sure why they are on the list at all. In addition when I got to the Food Hall at 3:30pm, all the free macarons from FP Patisserie were gone. I was kind of disappointed, so I ended up buying a full luxe box of 7 ($ 21) from them. They only had 7 flavors so I took one of each flavor. I didn’t have time to note their flavors, so I don’t really know what all of them were. Sorry, but their macarons were very fresh and moist, but one draw-​back was that some were overly sweet, so I can’t say I am a super fan of their macarons. But overall okay. At Macaron café at 36^th street and 7^th Avenue they ran out of free macarons by the time we got there at around 5pm or so, but since I was on the line, I brought two macarons (Lavender and PB&J) for $ 5.50. The Lavender macaron was overly powered in flavor by the lavender scent and flavor that made me not enjoy it. But the PB&J macaron was delicious. I recommened it highly. Also, I loved that Macaron café was very generous with their free maracons at the 625 Madison location, they gave their regular macarons of any flavors. Also, I find their macarons were the largest in size compared with all the other bakeries. Not all macarons are made equal. Some bakeries gave out free macarons that were old and hard. I really hope the ones they sell are not like the free ones, because that is a real turn off. At Macaron Parlour, there was one unique flavor that was not part of the free ones they were given out so I brought it. The flavor was Candied Bacon ($ 2.50), it was very unique in taste. I liked it and would recommend it.
Now for the free macaron reviews…
We went to the bakeries in upper manhattan and upper west side. Starting from 59^th street from east to west and then to Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center and Upper West Side 93^rd street, then down to midtown and St. Marks Place. My only regret was that I didn’t have time to visit any of the bakeries in Soho and Lower Manhattan. Especially Bisousciao Macaron and Mille-​Feuille Bakery, I had wanted to try. So maybe next year?
In the macaron photo from top to bottom and left to right are the 9 free macarons and my opinion of them.
1– Mad-​Mac @Bernardaud 499 Park Ave @ 59^th street — Pink Raspberry, I liked it and would recommend it. It was moist and just the right sweetness.
2– Macaron café 625 Madison Ave — Caramel Crunch, It was big in size. This location was generous with their portion size and also for macaron day they were generous with their free samples too. You could choose any of their flavors. I give this bakery a thumbs up for generosity as opposed to the other sponsoring bakeries.
3– Sugar and Plumm 767 5^th Ave @ FAO Schwartz — Salted Caramel — This shop amongst two other were very frugal with their free sample and only gave very small size macaron for free. But the macaron tasted good and I do recommend their usual size macarons.
4– Epiecrie Boulud @ Plaza Food Hall west 59^th street — Peanut Butter — This tasted good and moist. I recommend it.
5– Francois Payard Bakery — 1775 Broadway @ 58^th street– Pistachio, so so but I am not a fan of pistachio flavor.
6– Bouchon Bakery — 10 Columbus Circle 3^rd floor @ Time Warner Center-​chocolate salted Caramel, delicious, one of my favorite flavors.
7– Epicerie Boulud — 1900 Broadway– chocolate, nothing special or remarkable about this macaron.
8– Macaron Parlour– 560 Columbus Ave — Cheetos, tasted okay but have very little cheese flavor.
9– Macaron Parlour — 111 St. Marks Place — Smores, tasted a little hard and old
It was also Rita’s Italian Ice free Italian Ice give away in celebration of the first day of spring. I got the Pina Cola flavor Italian Ice. It was good, but since it was snowing and cold outside, I got the chills eating it and it gave me brain freeze. LOL… My monkey Coco also got in on the action and got his Italian Ice and Macarons.

First, I want to thank Mr. Francois Payard for making this magnificent event and sharing it with New York City.
Background: «In 2010, François Payard, chef and owner of FP Patisserie, François Payard Bakery and Payard Patisserie & Bistro, organized the first annual Macaron Day in NYC. Macaron Day NYC is inspired by and coincides annually with Jour du Macaron in Paris, created by La Maison Pierre Hermé Paris in association with the Relais Desserts. Macaron Day will always take place on March 20^th, the first day of Spring.»
1. Mad Mac at Bernardaud
Flavor: Pumpkin & Chestnut Whiskey
Taste: Pumpkin was sweet and
Chestnut Whiskey… scrumptious. The best macaron out of the 9! It would of went well with a shot of cinnamon whiskey.
Environment: Very Chic.
2. Macaron Café
Flavor: Crème Brûlée
Taste: Hard and Inedible. It disrespected my stomach and my teeth.
Enivironment: Small cozy and very inviting.
3.Mille Feuille:
Flavor: Salted Caramel Cognac
Taste: Nothing special. I was actually looking forward to it.
Enivironment: Small and very narrow.
4.Francois Payard:
Flavor: Vanilla
Taste: Smooth
Environment: Neighborhood Café Décor.
5.Bisous Ciao
Flavor: Yuzu (Japanese cream with a yuzu marmalade center)
Taste: Amazing! The macaron had lemon filling inside the crème filling! OMG!
Environment: Modern-​like, not a sit down.
6.Sugar & Plumm at Fao Schawarz
Flavor: Passion Fruit
Taste: Palatable. The filling tasted like a fruit purée. Freshest macaron I have ever tasted.
Environment: Playful Environment. Same location as the toy/​candy store.
7.Sugar & Plumm on Bleeker
Flavor: Passion Fruit
Taste: Shockingly tasteless. I expected it would be the exact duplicate of the one at Fao Schwarz.
Environment: Comfortable Setting. Natural lighting is beautiful there.
8.Epicerie Boulud
Flavor: Pistachio
Taste: Earthy and Rustic.
Environment: Located in the lower level of The Plaza. Enough said. I felt so underdress because everyone had fur, dog, or a birkin.
Will I do this again?: Yes. Next time, I should wear comfy clothes and not professional wear.

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS SOONER?!
While Mother Nature played a cruel, snowy joke on everyone on the first day of Spring, her timing could not have been better as this gave me the day off on Macaron Day.
With only 4 hours left till 5 pm, there was no way I could visit all participating locations, so I used the map on the website to plan out the most efficient route.
3.5 hours and too much walking later, I managed to visit 20 bakeries, but only collected 12 macarons as many had run out of the free giveaways later in the day. The most memorable one for me was Sugar & Plumm. Their salted caramel and passion fruit macarons definitely stood out from the rest of the pack in every way! On the other hand, the Thai Tea macaron from Spot Dessert Bar scored the lowest. It was more of a cookie than a macaron.

The girl in front of me at Bisous Ciao LES mentioned she had taken off for Macaron Day (I’ll invite every reader of this review to the wedding*), but I was fortunate enough to be able to hit many spots on lunch, and many after (albeit some unsuccessfully, so she likely lucked out wherever she tried). I gave myself a challenge to complete the perfect equinox activity, armed with a Google Maps-​based route:
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED
3.2 mi on lunch
9.6 mi in evening route
Per
for Thursday, March 20, 2014:
VISITED — see attached list (which this review appears atop):
Bisous, Ciao. Macarons 101 Stanton Street & 235 Bleecker Street
Bouchon Bakery — Bouchon Bakery at Time Warner Center and Bouchon Bakery at Rockefeller Center
Éclair Bakery
Epicerie Boulud
FP Patisserie 1 W 58^th St at the Plaza Hotel
Francois Payard Bakery** 2 of 3
Macaron Café — all 3
Macaron Parlour EVill
Mad-​Mac «The Authentic French Macarons» At Bernardaud
Mille-​Feuille Bakery
Spot Dessert Bar
Sugar and Plumm Village
DID NOT VISIT
Sugar and Plumm UWS
Michael Allen International Confectioner At Fresh Fanatic Organic Market
Macaron Parlour UWS
FP Patisserie 1293 Third Ave at 74^th St
Francois Payard Bakery 210 Murray Street
Butterfield Market
Chantilly Patisserie
*Asian Francophilia is amazing to me, and I was glad to score some admiration despite my lack of French heritage.
**Andrew G’s review hilariously of FPB itself which is understandable given the locked-​in address of a founder’s biz.

This place makes one of the best macarons in the city. So many flavors to choose from. When your in the village, this place is a must

I participated in Macaron Day 2013, it was on a Wednesday, March 20. I started at around 10:30/11am and all of the places I went to didn’t have too much of a line and still had macarons left. Below is my walking tour:
–FPB Columbus Circle (it’s actually on Broadway & 58^th St.): all different flavors available at the table set up in the back. I got cassis.
–Bouchon Bakery Columbus Circle: TINY vanilla macarons only available, must mention «Macaron Day» to the cashier
–FPB Plaza Hotel Food Cellar: enter the Plaza Hotel on 58^th St. is most direct way to ge there. A separate section of their counter was set aside for Macaron Day. This was the most low-​key spot, hidden spot. Different flavors available. I got pistachio.
–Mad Mac Macaron at Bernardaud: I’m not sure if this was a pop-​up shop. It was a table set up inside a housewares/​ceramic shop on the corner. Had to double-​check the address with the office building guard next door. The pastry chef was there taking pictures with people. There were a 3 – 4 flavors available, I got pumpkin. The macarons were Tiny as well.
–Macaron Café: I almost walked by this tiny shop. They had the largest selection, you could pick from anything that they had. By now it was lunch time and the line just started getting longer. Their shop is narrow and the line was stuck at the entrance of the shop and started forming out the door. I got the salted caramel flavor.
I was going to head up to the UES on the 6 to Butterfield Market and FP Pattisserie, but didn’t feel like waiting in line with the lunch crowd. Overall, it was a nice sunny macaron day walk.

Macaron Day (March 20^th) is perhaps the best annual free event in NYC. What is Macaron day exactly? It’s a day where over a dozen businesses (with a total of over 20 combined locations) give out a free macaron to promote their business and showcase the fine French dessert that is the macaron (not to be confused with a coconut macaroon). Although there are a couple locations in the outer boroughs, most of the locations are in Manhattan (a good concentration of them are in Midtown and the Village).
A little history: In 2005 French pastry chef Pierre Herme helped create the first macaron day in Paris, a beloved event that has been going strong ever since. In 2010 Francois Payard (a world renowned French pastry chef based in NYC) helped organize the first of its kind in the states.
This year (which I’m not sure if this changes from year to year), locations would give you a punch card upon request which listed the participating locations and Francois Payard arranged that if you had 12 locations punched out that his bakery on Houston would give you a gift box of 6 macarons and a high quality tote bag. What that essentially meant was that you had the opportunity to have 27 FREE macarons by the end of the day if you decided to go all out.
This year it fell on my day off and the weather was great so I took my bike out and went to 14 locations. Some locations had a giant selection of macrons to choose from (Macaron Café), some only had a couple choices, some gave you a macaron in a little bag while others just gave them to you with a napkin, most gave you a full sized macaron while some gave you a miniature one (Bouchon Bakery). When all was said and done I had a Payard tote bag full of 20 macarons and it only took me a couple hours. Considering macarons almost always cost between $ 2.25−2.75 I’d say that was a great day.